CB Insights - Amazon’s next move?

Hi there,

We’ve partnered with Blockdata to identify the Blockchain 50 — the 50 most promising enterprise blockchain companies. The application deadline is November 25 at 11:59 ET (tomorrow), so apply ASAP. More on the awards here. If you want to jump to the application form, go here.

And now on to Amazon...

Six years ago, Amazon laid out its ambitions for Amazon Pharmacy in the form of a mock press release as part of its regular “working backwards” process. 

Last week, Amazon Pharmacy went from mock press release to reality.

So what’s after Pharmacy?

In this report, we dive into the industries Amazon is already disrupting — or could disrupt next.

To get a view into how Amazon thinks about the future, check out these 23 lessons from Jeff Bezos’ annual letters.

It’s all about the cost 

Some of the biggest businesses have built moats based on cost-related advantages.

Take a look at how companies like IBM and Amazon used cost to gain a competitive edge here.

Automate the boring stuff

With Covid-19’s hit on key revenue streams, health systems and hospitals are looking to prioritize streamlining their administrative and operational processes. 

In this Expert Intelligence report, we map out the digitization and task automation landscape for healthcare providers and highlight tech solutions within the space.

SPAC skeptic

I appreciated this answer by CapitalG’s Jesse Wedler to the WSJ Pro team at our recent Future of Fintech conference.

Fit check

Continued uncertainty about shopping in stores is boosting interest in virtual fitting technology.

We highlight the key insights clients need to know in this post.

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) reports on mental health startup funding using the CB Insights State Of Healthcare Q3’20 report.  

Wall Street Journal. The Pro VC newsletter cites CapitalG partner Jesse Wedler’s (@jwedler) comments on SPACs at the CBI Future of Fintech conference.

Insurance Journal. CB Insights principal analyst Mike Fitzgerald (@mikefitz01) moderates a Carrier Management Roundtable on insurance innovation.
 

P.S. We’ll be walking through how cloud infrastructure and catastrophe modeling can help reinsurers adapt to Covid-19 in an upcoming webinar. Check it out here.

The Blurb
 

Zillow surfing. Scrolling through real estate listings is helping some people imagine an alternate life.

NYT

A ring of beauty. Ring lights — the bread and butter of influencers — have gone mainstream, as at-home workers seek out good lighting for Zoom calls.

The Atlantic

Down by the bay. Some high-talent tech workers leaving Silicon Valley are also changing jobs, taking positions with companies in smaller cities. 

WSJ

Call Noah. NASA’s Curiosity rover has found signs of megafloods on Mars, likely triggered by a meteor impact 4B years ago.

CNET

Cold feet. A Ponzi scheme suspect attempted to evade FBI agents using an underwater scooter.

NBC News